Vending-machine.



VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 25, 1906.

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the lower portion of the case.

LEWIS (l. MCLOUTH, OF YFSILANTI, MICHIGAN.

VE NDING-MACHIN E Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 20, 1907.

Application filed June 25,1906. Serial No. 323,201.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEWIS C. McLoU'rii, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ypsilanti, in the county of Washtenaw and State of Michigan, have invented a new and Improved Vending-Machine, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates to safety devices for vending machines, and my invention consists of a casing having a receptacle for the articles to be sold, and a chute through which the articles pass out of the machine, in combination withmeans mounted in said chute to prevent the insertion of a wire or other instrument by means of which the contents of the vending machine may be unlawfully abstracted.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a front view of my improved vending machine. Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section through the lower part of the machine. Fig. 3 is a cross section on the line A A of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a detail of the coin detector. Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of one end of the pins that support the coin during the operation of ejecting the purchased article. I

Similar reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views.

The vending machine shown in the drawings has a case formed of the sides 1 and 2, the top 3, the bottom 4, the glass front 5, the back 6, and the top.7 and front 8 of A receptacle 9 for the articles to be vended is secured in the case and is provided with a partially open bottom 10, so that the operating coins can engage the articles 11 in the receptacle. When the articles are pushed forward bythe coins, they fall upon the inclined portion 12 of the inner plate or chute 13. The article sliding down this incline falls against the projection 14 on the front 8 and sliding off, strikes the plate 13 again, and finally steps against the hooks 16 in the opening 15 in the front plate 8 of the machine.

To prevent a wire or other instrument being pushed up into the machine to pull out the articles 11, I secure hooked ribs 17 and 18 against the plate 13 and top 7 respectively, which will engage the end of the wire and prevent its passing up under the receptacle 9.

A shaft 19 is mounted in the sides 1 and 2 and on its ends are the levers 20, connected by the handle 21. On the shaft within the machine are the arms 22 that engage in openings 25 in the slide 24. Springs 23 are adapted to return this slide to the position shown in solid lines in Fig. 2. The slide moves between the guides 26 and 27. It is provided with a coin receiver 28 at its rear end and has a spring 29 secured to its lower side. The ends of the spring arebent upward and then inward, forming the upright portions 30 upon which are mounted the rollers 31, and the beveled points 32. (See Fig. 5.) The rollers bear against the guides 26 and the points are held to project into the coin receiver until the rollers arrive at the cut-away portions 33 of the guides 26. Normally, when the slide is at the position shown in solid lines in Fig. 2, the distance between the points 32 is such that the predetermined coin will be held in the position there shown on these points. If an attempt is made to operate the machine with a disk of improper size, it will not be operatively held by the points, a disk that is too thin slipping down beside the pins, and one that is too small in diameter passing between them. i

The coins are introduced through a slot 35 in the side 1 of the machine and pass down through the chute 36 into the coin receiver 28. The size of the opening 35 will prevent the introduction of disks larger than the predetermined coin. The purchaser then depresses the handle 21 which carries the parts to the position shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 2. At this point, the guides 26 being cut away, the points 32 retract and permit the coin to drop. The springs 23 return the parts to normal position as soon as the handle 21 is released.

Having now explained my improvements, what I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a vending machine, the combination of a case adapted to hold articles to be sold, a substantially S shaped curved plate upon which the articles are adapted to slide out of the machine, a deflector secured to the case opposite a con cave bend of the plate, a cross bar secured to said plate at one of its convex bends, and a second cross bar secured to the case above the first, said cross bars being convex upwards to avoid engaging and stopping articles passing down the plate, but concave on their lower sides to engage and prevent the upward passage of wires and rods.

' In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

LEWIS C. MCLOUTH.

Witnesses EDWARD N. PAGnLsnN, .T. FAULDER BURN. 

